My ears rang as Vin Diesel put another round into the bad guys. I've seen all of his movies, not necessarily by choice. There seemed to have been a decision at the Video Hut corporate offices that if you were going to play a movie on eight screens, simultaneously, then it damn well better have something or someone blow up. Not coincidentally we had very few female applicants.
The ringing telephone was hard to hear over Vin's explosive arsenal, but I caught it just in time. Answering phones was supposed to be mister manager's responsibility, but Lance was too busy yakking with a customer. "Video Hut, this is Rick."
"I made myself cum twice thinking about what we're going to do tonight," a female voice purred. I didn't say anything. "I'm at the drug store picking up some things. I've got to make sure I'm clean down there for you, Rick."
"Erin." I glanced in Lance's direction, he was still occupied. "I don't think I can---"
"Sure you can, unless your slut sister exhausted your little dick last night. That nasty bitch probably lets you cum in her, well you can cum in me too. Hey, I have to let my working man go, I don't want to keep the pharmacist waiting." She giggled. "I'll call you tonight and we can plan our little tryst."
I returned the phone behind the counter.
"Who was that?" Lance asked.
"No one," I replied.
"Well it had to be someone to make you turn all red. Was it Julie?" I wished he would just drop it. "Come on we'll talk about it at lunch, I'm buying."
We ended up crammed in the same old booth at the Pizza Sub. In the twenty-five minutes it had taken me to pick off the leathery dots of pepperoni that scarred my first slice, Lance had downed an entire pineapple-anchovy pizza. He wouldn't have taken so long had he not flirted with our waitress, Dina, at every possible opportunity. I think he set a record for grape soda refills.
"You're going to be peeing all day if you don't slow down."
"I know what I'm doing," he assured me. Here's a tip, if a guy says he knows what he's doing with lips stained purple from too much grape soda, then he has no idea what he's doing.
Dina brought him a full glass. "Here you are." She ran her fingers through his hair. She handed him a yellow bill with a heart drawn inside a zero. "No charge for my knight in shining armor."
"What was that all about?" I asked.
"Dina's car is in the shop and we're giving her a lift to pick it up. Some jerk did a hit and run after our date last night, put a pretty good dent in the door."
"I just introduced you two yesterday. You've already been out with her?"
"We're going out tonight, too. A girl like that you don't wait around for." He pointed to Dina, her toned body was bent over another table laying out menus. "I think we're getting serious."
"You've never been serious in your life," I said.
"I know, but I've never been with anyone like Dina before. Every time she looks at me I feel like I could lift a bus. Has a girl ever made you feel that way?"
I nodded. "Only one."
Dina had changed out of her uniform. She wedged herself in the seat next to Lance. I could feel their breaths from across the diminutive table. "You sure you're not sick?" Dina asked laying a hand on my forehead. "You look awful pale."
"I feel awful pale," I said, propping my head up with an elbow.
"We just need a way to cure old Rick of his female problems," Lance said. I glared at him. He'd better keep his mouth shut.
"That could take awhile," Dina said, giggling at my expense. She turned red when I didn't laugh along. "I can find someone else to take me to the auto shop."
"No, it's okay, we want to." Lance took a bite of pizza. "I also want Rick to actually eat his lunch, for a change."
I exhumed the least blackened disc of pepperoni from it's cheesy graveyard and popped it into my mouth. I chewed as little as possible and swallowed. "There I ate, can we go? Just smelling this place is making my stomach turn."
Dina glanced at Lance. Surprise was evident on her tan face. "I've never seen you like this before, Rick. Maybe talking about it would make you feel better," Dina said. I looked into her pale blue eyes, she wanted to help. I could never tell, that was the nature of what Julie and I had gotten ourselves into. "I can't believe you would let some girl get you so crazy?"
Some girl? I almost laughed in her face. Did she think I would endure this kind of torture for 'some girl?' No, there was only one.
"Tell me, Rick." Dina was like a bloodhound on the scent. I'd known her long enough to know that she wouldn't give up easily.
"You're right it's just a girl," I dabbed my face with the napkin then threw it on my plate. I contorted my legs enough to wriggle free from the booth and glared down at Lance.
Lance checked his watch. "You're car has got to be all patched up by now." He put his hand on her shoulder. "We should probably drop our grumpy friend off at the store, first." The climbed out of the booth and Dina ran to the back to grab her purse.
